Back-and forth on tariffs have locked the world’s two largest economies; US and China in a game of brinkmanship.
US President, Donald Trump has launched a global tariff assault that particularly targeted Chinese imports.
After announcing sweeping tariffs on dozens of trade partners, Trump abruptly issued a 90-day pause for most of them. China was excluded from the reprieve.
Tit-for-tat exchanges have seen US tariffs imposed on China rise to 145%, and Beijing setting a retaliatory 125% levy on US imports.
On Friday, April 11, 2025, Beijing said that it would ignore any future raises in tariffs by Trump, as they were already so high that there was “no market acceptance for US goods” in China.
The White House later announced on Friday the exclusion of some electronic products from steep reciprocal tariffs on China.
However, US Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick on Sunday, April 13, 2025, said that the exemption of smartphones, laptops and other electronic products from import tariffs on China will be short-lived.
Lutnick disclosed in an interview that critical technology products from China would face separate new duties along with semiconductors within the next two months.
Lutnick said that Trump would enact “a special focus-type of tariff” on smartphones, computers and other electronics products in a month or two, alongside sectoral tariffs targeting semiconductors and pharmaceuticals.
He added that the new duties would fall outside Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs on China.
According to Lutnick, these levies would bring production of those products to the United States. “These are things that are national security that we need to be made in America,” he said.
Trump said in a social media post on Sunday warned that no one was “getting off the hook.”
“There was no Tariff ‘exception’. These products are subject to the existing 20% Fentanyl Tariffs, and they are just moving to a different Tariff ‘bucket.’”
Donald Trump
In the post on his Truth Social platform, Trump promised to launch a national security trade investigation into the semiconductor sector and the “whole electronics supply chain.” “We will not be held hostage by other Countries, especially hostile trading Nations like China,” he added.
Trump’s back-and-forth on tariffs has triggered the wildest swings on Wall Street since the COVID pandemic of 2020.
The fallout from Trump’s tariffs – and subsequent policy reversals have sent shock waves through the US economy.
US Senator, Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, criticised the latest revision to Trump’s tariff plan. “There is no tariff policy – only chaos and corruption,” Warren said, before Trump’s latest post on social media.
On Sunday, China called on the US to “completely cancel” its 145% tariffs for Chinese imports to the US, except in relation to consumer electronics and key chipmaking equipment.
A Commerce Ministry Spokesperson said in a statement, “We urge the US to … take a big step to correct its mistakes, completely cancel the wrong practice of ‘reciprocal tariffs’ and return to the right path of mutual respect.”
Retaliatory Chinese-imposed tariffs of 125% on US goods took effect on Saturday.
China Seeks To Bolster Ties Amid Trump’s Back-And-Forth On Tariffs
China has sought to strengthen ties with neighbouring countries amid the escalating trade war.
Chinese leader, Xi Jinping will visit Vietnam today, Monday, April 14, 2025, before travelling to Malaysia and Cambodia, a high-profile tour that Chinese officials have described as being of “major importance.”
China will probably use the visit to emphasise that it is a stable partner, contrasting itself with Washington which imposed, then suspended, punishing tariffs across south-east Asia, an export-reliant region.
Vietnam, a manufacturing powerhouse, and Cambodia, where the garments and footwear sector is crucial to the economy, were among the worst hit by US tariffs, set at 46% and 49% respectively.
It is expected that China will sign dozens of deals with Vietnam on Monday including possible investment and cooperation arrangements to develop its railway network.
Earlier today, a spokesperson for China’s Customs agency said the country’s exports were facing a complex and severe external situation but “the sky will not fall.”
They said that China’s domestic demand was broad, and they were building a diversified market.
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